"Burgess is an expert at directing the eye"
Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post
Dana Tai Soon Burgess is the director of Washington DC’s premiere Asian American Dance Company. He was raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico by parents who are both visual artists. He received his initial dance training from Tim Wengerd and Judith Chazin-Bennahum. Vital to his aesthetic were his training in the Michio Ito technique (the first Asian American choreographer) as well as culturally specific dance forms and martial arts. Burgess has received critical acclaim for his unique synthesis of Eastern and Western aesthetics. The Washington Post says, “Burgess’s work is food for the eye, spare, intimate and perfect as a pearl.” His choreography has been presented and commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute, Asia Society, NY, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, La MaMa, NY and the United Nations. His work has been performed extensively throughout the United States as well as in, Bulgaria, Canada, Columbia, Ecuador, Germany, Korea, Latvia, Panama, Peru, Russia and Venezuela. He received the District of Columbia Mayor’s Arts Award in 1994 for Emerging Artist and in 2004 he received the Mayor’s Award for Outstanding Excellence in the Arts. In 2001, 2002, and 2003, he received the Metro DC Dance Awards for Best Overall Production. Burgess has been an American Cultural Specialist for the United States State Department three times. He has taught dance technique and set work at the Hamburg Ballet School, King Sejong University-Korea, the Kirov Academy, the National Ballet of Peru, University of Panama, University of Venezuela and the Washington Ballet. He received a Senior Fulbright Grant in 2006 to teach at the National University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru. He is currently an assistant professor of dance at the George Washington University in the Columbian School of Arts and Sciences. Burgess holds a Master’s of Fine Arts from the George Washington University and received arts management training through the Kennedy Center’s Capacity Building Program under the direct guidance of Michael Kaiser. Recent performances of his choreography include the Kennedy Center’s national 120-city tour of The Nightingale as well as Tracings, an homage to the first Korean Americans commissioned by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and the Kennedy Center. Tracings toured to South America and Europe. Burgess’ company is currently touring a work inspired by the writings of Marguerite Duras entitled “Images from the Embers”. The work tours South America and Asia through 2007-08.
Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post
Dana Tai Soon Burgess is the director of Washington DC’s premiere Asian American Dance Company. He was raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico by parents who are both visual artists. He received his initial dance training from Tim Wengerd and Judith Chazin-Bennahum. Vital to his aesthetic were his training in the Michio Ito technique (the first Asian American choreographer) as well as culturally specific dance forms and martial arts. Burgess has received critical acclaim for his unique synthesis of Eastern and Western aesthetics. The Washington Post says, “Burgess’s work is food for the eye, spare, intimate and perfect as a pearl.” His choreography has been presented and commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute, Asia Society, NY, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, La MaMa, NY and the United Nations. His work has been performed extensively throughout the United States as well as in, Bulgaria, Canada, Columbia, Ecuador, Germany, Korea, Latvia, Panama, Peru, Russia and Venezuela. He received the District of Columbia Mayor’s Arts Award in 1994 for Emerging Artist and in 2004 he received the Mayor’s Award for Outstanding Excellence in the Arts. In 2001, 2002, and 2003, he received the Metro DC Dance Awards for Best Overall Production. Burgess has been an American Cultural Specialist for the United States State Department three times. He has taught dance technique and set work at the Hamburg Ballet School, King Sejong University-Korea, the Kirov Academy, the National Ballet of Peru, University of Panama, University of Venezuela and the Washington Ballet. He received a Senior Fulbright Grant in 2006 to teach at the National University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru. He is currently an assistant professor of dance at the George Washington University in the Columbian School of Arts and Sciences. Burgess holds a Master’s of Fine Arts from the George Washington University and received arts management training through the Kennedy Center’s Capacity Building Program under the direct guidance of Michael Kaiser. Recent performances of his choreography include the Kennedy Center’s national 120-city tour of The Nightingale as well as Tracings, an homage to the first Korean Americans commissioned by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and the Kennedy Center. Tracings toured to South America and Europe. Burgess’ company is currently touring a work inspired by the writings of Marguerite Duras entitled “Images from the Embers”. The work tours South America and Asia through 2007-08.
photo
credit: Mary Noble Ours